


That’s how it’s supposed to be

by TentativeTreason



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria Safe-Zone (Walking Dead), Beth Greene Lives, Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene Reunion, F/M, Fix-It, Grady Memorial Hospital (Walking Dead), Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, POV Beth Greene, Past Sexual Assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25121194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TentativeTreason/pseuds/TentativeTreason
Summary: Beth got out of Grady Memorial Hospital with Noah when they first tried to escape.Over a year later, she is finally re-united with Daryl Dixon and the rest of her surviving family.****(i.e. A Bethyl Reunion with no altercation at Grady. No Saviors.)
Relationships: Beth Greene & Carl Grimes, Beth Greene & Maggie Greene, Beth Greene & Noah (Walking Dead: Grady Memorial Hospital), Daryl Dixon & Beth Greene, Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene, Maggie Greene/Glenn Rhee
Comments: 12
Kudos: 130





	That’s how it’s supposed to be

**Author's Note:**

> Note: There will be no mention of the Saviors/Negan. They don’t exist for the purpose of the story. Events otherwise are very similar. ASZ and Hilltop etc. are known.

The leaves were starting to change. 

She had noticed it when she has woken this morning; the sound of leaves crunching had felt unbearably loud compared to her normal walk. She had made a conscious effort to minimise the noise, stepping on the softest available ground, where it was the least likely to cause rustling just like Daryl had taught her. 

_ Daryl._

Thinking of him, caused a pang of longing run through her, as it always did. The loss of his companionable silence; the safety of his presence and the last remaining link to her absent family weighed heavily on her. 

But she would show him. When they met again, she would show that she wasn’t just another dead girl. She was Beth Greene and she was gonna live, she just needed a little faith. 

A twig snapped behind her and she instantly twirled, knife drawn in one hand and a gun in the other, teeth bared.

“Don’t! Don’t shoot. It’s me-It’s just me.” 

Beth eased her posture as Noah stumbled out from behind a tree, his backpack clunking noisily against him. Beth felt her heart race, even as she lowered her weapons; man or walker you could never be too careful these days.

Sighing, she slid her knife back into it’s sheath, her hands remaining steady while she got her breathing back under control.

“Noah, I told you, you didn’t have to come. I was fine catching breakfast myself.”

“I know you are, Beth, hell, you’re the one feeding us most days. I-I just wanted to come with, see if you could teach me some more. I just want to be a bit more useful.”

“You’re plenty useful, Noah. You know that.”

Noah made a face, but continued on, clearly not wanting to verbally disagree, “I just don’t want to depend on you for food is all.”

Noah had a point, in the long months since they’d left Grady she had been the main source of food for them. They had made their way to Richmond, in search of the safe haven of Noah’s community. Once they had arrived and found the place overrun, they had proceeded to live house-to-house scrounging for food as best they could. With no real direction, they moved from town to town looking for food and shelter. But after running into a fair few unsavoury people, they’d mutually agreed to stick to the relative safety of the uninhabited woods. 

Beth had since claimed the responsibility of obtaining food, falling back into the pattern of hunting relatively quickly. But she knew that she couldn’t do it forever, that one day she might be gone and that Noah would need to be able to fend for himself. 

She nodded and Noah returned it with a grin, “Alright, let’s head now. Let’s gather our stuff and check yesterdays snares.”

“Thanks, Beth. I owe you one-“ 

Noah’s smile fell, the words dying in his throat. 

Beth tensed at the words:  _owe. _

It had been a while since either of them had heard it. She had almost forgotten the fear, the bad memories, she associated with that word. It was strange how circumstances could change the meaning or intention of such an innocuous word. 

Looking at Noah, she could see behind his eyes that he, too, was reliving his own memories of Grady, of his entire year with Dawn.

“You don’t owe me  _nothin’_ - ,” She emphasised her words, firmly trying to get Noah to look at her as she did, “-‘m teaching you ‘cos I want to.” 

Noah fixed his attention on the floor, nodding but avoid eye contact. 

“Yeah, I know.”

They gathered the rest of their meagre belongings in silence, each mulling over their own thoughts. The two of them had travelled well together since they escaped, it wasn’t the easy companionship she’d had with Daryl nor was it as overwhelming travelling with Maggie, Rick and the rest of her family but it was comfortable. Her friendship with Noah was one formed from shared hardships and a desire to survive. It made her grateful everyday that she wasn’t alone.

_ ‘You’ll be the last man standing, Daryl Dixon.’ _

The memory of the words she has said to Daryl flitted through her mind. More than anything, Beth wanted to find Daryl; she didn’t want him to have to suffer the fate of trying to survive this world alone.

****

“Yeah, that’s right. That knot should be tight enough now, we might even get some dinner from that tomorrow if we’re lucky!”

Beth watched Noah finish his snare, satisfaction brimming in her. She had spent the rest of the morning showing him how to set up traps and snares and how to track rabbits and squirrels. It felt like an age since she’d been taught but she clung to every piece of knowledge she could remember; it made the difference between living and dying. 

She shivered lightly as a gust of wind blew. 

They’d have to start thinking about finding somewhere to base themselves for the winter. She had been meaning to bring it up when the first leaves had fallen, as the green changed to the plethora of red and orange on the trees, but she had been stalling as much as she could.

She remembered all too well how the last winter had turned out.

_ Then: _

_ They had been travelling for over a month, it had been but a week or two since the discovery of the fall of Noah’s community in Richmond. They had been travelling from house to house and car trunk to trunk, only stopping when they found an old mechanics to break off the cast from Beth’s arm, when they found it. `A little detached house with high-rise metal gates surrounding the property.  _

_ It was the type of house that, back in the old days would have been branded as ‘ugly’ and an ‘eyesore’. People in the community would surely have petitioned the local council to try and demolish it and build something anew. But now, the house looked like a protected paradise compared to the unsecured properties nearby.  _

_ Once they’d approached the gate, Noah noticed the padlock around the entrance.  _

_ “Damn it. How we supposed to get in now?” _

_ He jostled the padlock twice, to see if there was any give but it refused to open.  _

_ “Maybe this is a blessin’? If we can’t get in easily, neither can walkers. We can hop over the fence and clear it, it’ll be more protected that way.” Beth pushed the blonde wisps of hair out of her face and stuck her head up between the bars of the gate.  _

_ “I can see a walker outside and there might be one or two in the house. I think it might make a nice base for winter?” Getting an affirming nod from Noah, she smiled.  _

_ “Alright.” _

_ Noah wiped the dirt from his hands before interlocking his fingers and moving to kneel beside the gates. _

_ Confusedly, Beth questioned, “What you doin’?” _

_ “I’ll boost you over the fence.” _

_ She laughed, but obligingly she dropped her small backpack and rested her hands on either side of his shoulders and got ready to hoist herself up.  _

_ The backpack was one she had managed to snatch from a recent walker a week or so before. It contained her water bottle, which had been rinsed and filled up from a rusty well a few miles out of the last town; some rope, she had hopes of trying out some of the snares and traps she remembered Daryl showing her; a spare knife; a spare set of sock and underwear that had been scrounged from previous runs; and a small box of unopened tampons she had miraculously discovered last week. _

_ She knew Noah had been collecting his own trinkets and miscellaneous in his bag. She had heard the clinking of small bottles that she could only assume was medication he was stockpiling, as well as some of the rusty tins of canned peas they’d foraged. _

_ She pushed down on Noah’s shoulders, trying to reach for the top of the metal gate, only to stop when Noah cried out in pain. _

_ “You alright?” _

_ “I’m fine, it’s just my leg. It’s fine.”  _

_ Noah’s leg had been one of the main reasons they’d stuck close to towns so far; his leg had been injured when they’d escaped from Grady and had yet to heal. Before, with modern medicine, it might have been diagnosed as a sprain or a fracture or even a break, but now they had no way of knowing what was wrong with his leg or how long it might take to heal.  _

_ “Here,” Beth picked up her bag and copied Noah’s position,”I’ll boost, you can catch me on the other side.” _

_ She could sense Noah’s humiliation and guilt, before she even looked at him.  _

_ “Noah, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.” _

_ “I’m sorry, I’m holding you back, I know it.” She went to interrupt but he spoke first,”I wouldn’t even be out of there if it wasn’t for y-“ _

_ “It don’t matter how we got out. We’re in this together now. You help me and I help you, so come on.” She thrust her linked hands forward and kneeled, giving him a stubborn look.  _

_ Noah chuckled quietly, but relented, obediently pushing himself up.  _

_ It ended up taking them an hour or so to clear and dispose of the walkers, check every room in the house and secure some of the doors with cord ripped from the walls.  _

_They chose one of the bedrooms to fortify and proceeded to have their usual argument over where to sleep. Noah insisted she get the bed and he’d take the floor, while Beth insisted that he needed to rest his leg and that she would take the floor. As usual, it ended with them sharing the large and cosy bed, but both took comfort in the routine of it all._

_ They stayed at the house in relative peace for a month. Maybe it had been too much for them to hope that they didn’t have to be constantly on the move, that they might have been safe.  _

_ That night the peace ended. _

_ Beth awoke.  _

_ She didn’t know how long she’d slept for but she noticed it had not been long enough for the light to stream in through the cracks in the curtains. It took a moment for her to realise what had awoken her; it was the sound of loud footsteps.  _

_ Instantly she was up and out of the bed, knife in hand.  _

_ “Noah?” She whispered out to him, shaking him urgently, “Get up. We need to go.” _

_ He jerked up, his body moving lethargically but his mind automatically running wild.  _

_ “Place looks pretty well sealed off. No biters.” She could make out the footsteps of at least two people, possibly more. The voice of the man was rough, from an older man perhaps. “Place almost looks like it’s already b’n cleared.” _

_ “Check all the rooms.” _

_ Fear gripped her as she reached for Noah’s hand, frantically pulling him towards the wardrobe.  _

_ Noah shook his head, “We won’t both fit in there. You take the wardrobe, I’ll go beneath the bed.”  _

_ He pushed her in the direction of the wardrobe, as he crouched on the floor and slid beneath the bed. Pain flared through his leg as he did, but it was overpowered by the surge of adrenaline he felt. _

_ He could see from his position under the bed, Beth tucking her knife and sheath in her jeans and nestling herself in the back of the closet, the door shutting behind her. _

_ Maybe they were overreacting, but from their interactions with people back at Grady he knew there were dangerous people out there. He couldn’t help but hope he was wrong. _

_ The door knob twisted, with door pushing open slightly, however the motion was halted by the thick cord wrapped around the knob and tied to the bed post.  _

_ In that moment, he knew they’d made a fatal error. The men on the other side of the door, now knew without a doubt there were people in the room.  _

Fuck.

_ “The doors jammed, I think it’s rope,” A knife poked through the gap of the doorway, Noah could hear the sounds of the cord being cut. “Means there’s people in here.” _

_ “Whoever you are, come out. We ain’t gonna hurt you.” He could hear quiet laughter behind those words and just knew these were not good people.  _

_ Finally, the group pushed the door open enough to enter, having managed to nudge the dresser out of the way. _

_ There were three of them, men ranging between 30 and 50 years old. They looked weathered and dirty, like most people do these days while on the run, but what scared him most was the smirks and grins on their faces. They looked like hunters searching for prey.  _

_ Glancing over at the closed closet doors, Noah didn’t stop to second guess his actions. He rolled out from under the bed, hands raised.  _

_ “Don’t shoot! I’ve not got anything.”  _

_ One of the men stepped forward, gun out, clearly the leader of the group. The other two beside him keeping their own hands on their respective weapons.  _

_ “And who might you be?”  _

_ “M-my name’s Noah.”  _

_ “You alone here, Noah?” _

_ “Y-Yeah, it’s just me.”  _

_ He prayed to anyone listening, that they would believe him; he didn’t know if they’d steal his stash or even kill him, but he knew that he didn’t want to know what they could do to Beth if they found her.  _

_ “Then why do you have two backpacks over there?”  _

_ “I-“  _

_ There was beat of silence as Noah desperately tried to think of something to say, broken only by the leader responding.  _

_ “I don’t believe you, son.” _

_ The other two man immediately began searching the room, checking beneath the bed, behind the door and, finally, ripping open the closet doors. _

_ There was a yelp as Beth was dragged out of the wardrobe, struggling against the men’s hands.  _

_ “A girl.”  _

_ The two men holding Beth were smirking, not containing their leers.  _

_ While Noah knew Beth was at least nineteen - she told him her birthday would have been at the start of the Winter - she looked much younger held between the two men. Their psychical presence dominated hers entirely.  _

_ “I can see why you’d want to keep her to yourself.”The man eyeballed her in a way that made Noah want to be sick, “What’s your name, sweetheart?” _

_ “Beth.”  _

_ “Hello, Beth.”  _

_ She was glaring at him, struggling against the two captors either side of her.  _

_ “We’re going to come to an understanding, you and I.” He cocked the gun in his hand, keeping it trained on Noah’s face. “If you spend some time with me and my friends here, I promise we won’t kill you and your friend afterwards and we’ll all go on our merry way.” _

_ Beth trembled. _

_ She hadn’t felt this trapped since Gorman tried to attack her back at Grady. Except last time, she had been against only one man and this time there were three, one of whom had a gun pointed at her friend and only companion in the world.  _

_ She knew there was only one option so, not looking at Noah, she nodded.  _

_ “Beth, don’t-“  _

_ “Stop.” The man waved the gun threateningly at Noah. “You make one more move and I’ll shoot you and your girl will entertain us anyway.” _

_ Noah looked beseechingly in Beth’s direction, but she didn’t glance over. _

_ “I’ll go with you, just don’t shoot him. Please.” _

_“We got a deal, girl. And you can show me just how grateful you are for it.”_

_ The man took one of her arms firmly, his eyes filling with lust as he did. “Stan. John. You stay here. I’ll go first. If he moves, shoot him.”  _

_ He pulled Beth out of the room with him, moving towards the bedroom next door.  _

_ “Take ‘em off, girl, and get on the bed.”  _

_ She reached for the hem of her shirt, her mind racing.  _

_ She knew it was unlikely that they would keep their end of the bargain once they were done with her. It was more likely they’d kill them both anyway or, worse, keep her alive and take her with them.  _

_ She still had he knife in her sheath, tucked into her trousers. If she could distract him, she might be able to catch him unawares.  _

_ With shaking hands she removed her top, feeling sick as she saw his dilated eyes. _

_ “Keep going, darlin’.”  _

_ She pulled off the tattered and dirty sports bra, closing her eyes as she did.  _

_ She jolted as she felt unwelcome hands on her, fondling at her body. The man’s mouth had latched on to her neck, his hand moving up and down her body, only resting to squeeze two hands round her throat.  _

Two hands.

_ Which meant the hand that was previously holding the gun was empty. _

_ She heard the sound of his zipper and wasted no more time. She yanked the hidden knife out of it’s sheath and thrust it directly into his jugular.  _

_ Instantly the man’s movements stopped, his blood seeping out of the open wound onto her. She pulled the knife out of his neck and he dropped, thudding onto the floor loudly.  _

_ “Trevor, man, you good?”  _

_ She heard a shout through the door, and moved behind the doorway, hoping to catch catch the next man off-guard. _

_ As the second man entered, she pounced.  _

_ He turned as she tackled him to the ground, the knife grazing his arm as he brought it up to protect his neck.  _

_ “Wha-?” _

_ Without waiting she plunged the knife into his chest. The knife made a squelch as she pulled it out and the man started wheezing and groaning.  _

_ Her hands shook.  _

She had just killed two men. 

_It was the right decision; she’d be dead otherwise, or worse, but they were both people. Living people. And she had just killed them._

_ But there was still one more. One who she was sure wouldn’t hesitate to kill both Noah and her if he knew she had killed his friends. There was no other choice. _

_ Beth picked up the dead man’s gun. _

_ Stalking through the door, she look around the corridor and, from her position, she could see the final man who was faced towards Noah.  _

_ Noah’s eyes widened involuntarily as he spotted her. The third and final man’s head tilted and he shifted, as though to turn around, so she wasted no time and pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. And a third time. _

_ The last of the trio fell to the floor, dead. _

_ The gun clattered uselessly from her hand as shock hit her.  _

_ “I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry.”  _

_ Noah rushed over to her, quickly wrapping his jacket round her. It was only then she realised that she hadn’t put her shirt or bra back on when she’d left the other bedroom. She was covered in blood. _

_ “‘M fine. Noah, I’m fine. ‘M not hurt.” Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as she clutched Noah’s jacket around her.  _

_ “Wait here.”  _

_ He moved towards the other bedroom, coming back in with her top and sports bra.  _

_ She clumsily took them from him and began putting them on as he reached for their bags.  _

_ They couldn’t stay there.  _

Now:

They hadn’t spoken about the incident since.

It probably wasn’t the healthiest way for either of them to deal with the trauma of it, but Beth had avoided any conversation pertaining to it and ignored Noah’s attempts to bring it up. She wanted to pretend it had never happened. 

After the incident they had taken to avoiding towns, instead choosing to stick mainly to the woods and the occasional cabin they could find. But they both knew that the woods wouldn’t be able to protect them from the winter weather and she was hesitant to go back to a town. They had few options to choose from. 

“-th? Beth?” 

Beth jumped as a hand came into her line of sight. 

“S-Sorry, what?”

Noah’s face was one of concern but, as was custom, he didn’t press her for details. She couldn’t be more grateful for it. “I said, I think I saw a stream further down. Was thinking we could fill up our bottles and we could take turns getting washed up?”

She nodded, smiling tightly. “I think I like the sound of that.”

****

Beth felt the cleanest she had in weeks. 

She sat on the leafy floor, shivering, her hair still sopping wet from the river. Even with the icy tendrils creeping up her spine, the wash in the river had been well worth it. 

Despite the shivers, Beth kept her eyes peeled for signs of walkers or other people; it was her watch while Noah had his turn in the river. 

Her head snapped up, she heard increased rustling of the leaves to her left. 

“Noah!” 

She shouted out to her companion, warning him of potential company, and kept her knife raised as a man ambled out from behind the trees with his hands raised. 

He had curly red-ish brown hair and was wearing a tartan-patterned over-shirt. His face and hair looked unusually clean and well shaven. Despite having just washed in the river, Beth knew she looked far more unkempt than the man before her. The inference was clear.

_ He has a camp. _

“I’m not here to hurt you. I’m a friend.” 

Beth scoffed disbelievingly, “I’ve heard that before.” 

She heard movement behind her as Noah joined them, still dripping wet and half dressed from his own wash, but instantly on the defensive. 

Noah took a stand slightly in-front of Beth, his knife drawn. 

“Who are you?”

“My name’s Aaron. I’m part of a community nearby and I think you two would make excellent members of that community.”

“You don’t even know us.”

“I know your name is Beth and his name is Noah. I know that one of you, or both, can hunt. And I know that you look after each other. You’re the kind of people we’re looking for in our community.”

Instead of making her more comfortable, the insinuation that he’d been watching them raised Beth’s hackles. “You’ve been watching us.” 

She felt Noah shift minutely with this revelation, ”How many people are with you?”

“It’s just me.” The man,  Aaron , must have caught her expression of disbelief as he rushed on, ”I know I don’t look like much. Normally there are two of us, but he’s back home waiting for a baby to be born.”

_Home. Baby_. The words might as well have been shouted for how much they stood out.The sincerity behind them were clear; the community, wherever it was, was clearly somewhere people felt safe. At least safe enough that someone could have a baby and it wasn’t a big deal. Almost like the prison. 

“Why should we believe you?”

Noah sounded just as apprehensive as Beth felt, if not more so, having only seen glimpses of people in the last year and having the last people who they had properly interacted with attack them did wonders for his paranoia. 

“I have photos in my bag, if you’ll let me-“, he made a motion to grab his bag but stopped when both Noah and Beth stepped back, “-if you want to get it, you can.”

“Take it off slowly and kick it over to us.”

As slowly as possible, Aaron took off the backpack and slid it over to them. Beth inched forward, keeping her eyes on Aaron. The moment her hands gripped around the straps of the backpack she scuttled back, like a caged animal with food. 

“In the front pocket.”

She unzipped the pocket, a brown envelope spilling out. Reaching inside, she pulled out the photos. 

“The photo quality isn’t the best, so I’m sorry about-,” He teetered off when Noah gave him a disdainful glare, “-...but no-one ever seems to care about that. Sorry.”

If it weren’t for their previous interactions with people, Beth might have found the man before them adorable, in a dorky kind of way. But Grady had proven that even people who seemed normal on the outside could hide monsters within. 

“Beth, look.” 

Noah reached for the first photo, it showed walls. Giant, steel-plated walls, reinforced with broad slanted bars and wooded pillars. It looked almost military-esque. It looked  _safe_.

But something still sat uneasy with Beth as the flitted through the photos. “Where are the people?”

She looked at the man suspiciously. 

“We ran out of film before we got to photos of the people. We’ve been looking for more film on our runs for a while. But we haven’t managed to-“

Ignoring Aaron, Beth pulled Noah back away from the man before them. She kept an eye on him but focused most of her attention on Noah. 

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know.” Noah whispered back. He glanced between the photos and the stranger standing ten feet from them. “How do we know we’re not walking into another Grady? Or if-if they have people like-“ 

He trailed off, but Beth knew who he was talking about. People like  those men. But note everyone was like that. They couldn’t be.  _You just got to have a little faith_ _._ The words she spoken to Darryl all those months ago. Maybe it was time to start living by that philosophy again. 

“We would get to keep our weapons?” 

Beth directed her question to Aaron, who nodded reassuringly. 

“What are y-?” 

Noah spoke in hushed toned, but Beth ignored him. “We’d be happy to work in the community, but we don’t  owe  anyone  _anything_ else.”

Aaron’s expression crinkled momentarily in confusion, before realisation appeared to hit him. “Our community isn’t like that at  _all_.”

The implication seemed to distress him, as if the idea of hurting people upset him. But what stood out to Beth most was that he sounded honest. _ There are still good people in the world. _ She wanted it to be true so badly, but the concepts of being ‘safe’ and having somewhere to call ‘home’ were so foreign to her now that it was hard to believe.

“Okay.” Beth looked hesitantly over to Noah. Their eyes met, his wary expression giving way to trust. 

“Okay.” Noah moved closer to Aaron, “Let’s go.”

****

Since they had decided to trust Aaron, Noah had begun peppering him with questions. Consequently, they had discovered that the community was called the Alexandria Safe Zone; they learned that they would have to ‘audition’ for a place at the community, but they also learned they weren’t the first recruits. Apparently, Alexandria was home to a mix of people who’d been there since the beginning of the outbreak and people who’d been recruited like them. It had a school, a church and an infirmary and was but a two day walk from them. They, also, learned that Aaron had a husband waiting back at Alexandria for him called Eric.

The mention of a husband had certainly alleviated some of the residual tension Noah still had. The mistrust slowly easing between them meant Beth, too, felt more comfortable asking questions. 

As they sat around the fire, with one of the squirrels she had caught earlier, Beth took over from Noah asking questions. 

“So, the man you normally ‘recruit’ with, is he becoming a Daddy?” 

Aaron choked, food lodging in his throat in surprise. 

“Ah,” Spluttering lightly, he answered, ”No, he’s not. One of the other residents is the Dad. He’s, um, he’s more of an uncle figure. They were all part of the same group before they joined Alexandria. They’re close knit.”

“Sounds nice.” It put a melancholy vibe to the evening. Memories of her friends and family from the prison came back to her, grief filling her.  _No_ , not grief. They  _weren’t_ dead. Just missing. 

“What about you two, did you know each other before all  _this_?” Aaron made a vague gesture to the woods around him.

Noah and Beth looked each other, the unspoken history between them stark. Noah replied for the both of them, “No. We-We met during. About a year or so ago?”

Not dissuaded by the vague response, Aaron continued. “How’d you meet?”

“I was travelling with my Dad. We were doing a run for the community where my Mum and two little brothers lived. We were in a car accident. These  _people_ -“, Noah said the word with the most contempt he could, “-found us. They left my dad for dead and ‘saved’ me. It was a hospital in Atlanta, the community there told me that I  _owed_ them for saving me. They weren’t good people.”

Noah glanced over at Aaron, who was listening with a serious look on his face. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over, Beth smiled at him supportively. 

“That’s where we met.” Beth took over for him, “I travelled with a group at the beginning, they were my family. We even had our own community for a while.”

She smiled morosely into the fire, remembering the domesticity of the prison. They had grown plants, taught the children and had family dinners. 

“But that didn’t last, people came and it was overrun. I escaped with one of our people and we ran together for a while. He was the one who taught me how to track and hunt. I could even use his crossbow by the end of it... until I was hit by a car.” She huffed with laughter, though nothing was funny about the situation. “The people who’d hit me took me with them, they took me to Grady, where we met.... and I haven’t seen any of my family since.“

“But you both managed to escape?” 

Aaron’s voice cut through the relative silence, the crackling of the fire being the only other sound in their clearing. His voice was falsely upbeat, obviously trying to keep a lighter tone for the discussion. Noah shook his head and smiled over at Aaron.

“Yeah, we did. But it was Beth, here, who was the one who got us out. She’s a complete badass.”

Beth smiled bashfully. “Hey! We  _both_ got out. We’re both here, aren’t we?”

Noah returned the smile, “I guess we are.”

That night Beth and Noah took turns keeping watch, but unlike other days there was a strange restless energy between them. Something akin to excitement. It was a feeling she hadn’t had since that night at the funeral home, when she had heard the fateful  _‘Oh’._

So for the first night in nearly a year, Beth feel asleep with hope.

****

Another day and night had passed on their walk to Alexandria. 

They had spent most of the time getting to know each other, asking the most inane questions and avoiding the heavier topics of the day or so before. To Aaron’s credit, he hadn’t about the scar on Beth’s face nor Noah’s lingering limp that slowed their pace down, though he probably had more questions.

He most likely made assumptions from their stories the night before. But the restrained curiosity set Beth at ease; it reminded her of Daryl. If Daryl was out there somewhere and had the chance, Beth had the feeling he would like Aaron’s easy presence. 

It was on the morning of their third day travelling together that Aaron said the fateful words. 

“And here is it. Home, sweet home. Alexandria Safe Zone.”

Trudging beside him, Beth and Noah moved out of the tree line and saw the towering walls of the community they could potentially call home. 

_Alexandria_ . 

Beth could make out the unrestrained laughter of children and the dull thrum of people behind the gates. It had been a long time since she had been around so many people. Long enough that a dull anxiety rose within her.  _What if they didn’t fit in with normal society anymore?_

She had changed  a lot since she was last in an actual community. She was more than just a babysitter now. She could hunt, she could hold her own against walkers, she could protect herself from people.  _She had killed people. _ She wasn’t the same. But looking at Aaron’s reassuring smile, she couldn’t help but think that maybe that was okay. 

“Hey, Tara.” Aaron shouted out towards the fence. “I’ve got two potential recruits with me, could you let us in? And send someone to get Deanna and Rick for an interview?”

A woman’s head could be seen poking over the fence line, the barrel of a gun accompanying it. 

“Aaron, nice to have you back.” 

Mufffled from the woman, Tara, could be heard on the otherside before the scrapping of metal on asphalt sounded and the gates started to open.

The same woman could be seen at the entryway, armed with a rifle. She smiled kindly over to Beth and Noah. “You’re just in time, Aaron, Maggie hasn’t had the baby yet. So you might even get to meet the little one before you head out again.”

Beth’s heart wrenched at the name Maggie, but she tried not to let it show on her face. 

“Welcome to Alexandria, I’m Tara. What are your names?”

“‘M Beth and this is Noah. We’re just glad to be here.”

They took a few steps further into the community before Beth paused, mesmerised. It was a built-up community with semi-detached houses. There were green patches in the gardens, clearly being used for growing plants. There were people walking around in clean clothes and fresh faces. The only indications that this was still the same world was the fact that most people had some form of weapon with them, whether it was a gun or knife or otherwise. 

“Come on, I’ll get you to Deanna and Rick. I’ll give you the grand tour afterwards.”

Following behind Aaron, Beth could see that they were getting curious looks from the townsfolk. They were but a few paces further along when the surreal vibe was disturbed by a shriek. 

“Beth?! BETH?!” 

She span around in alarm, hand instinctually going for her knife before she registered the scene in front of her. Just a few houses down stood Maggie,  _her sister_. 

“MAGGIE?!” 

Without thinking, Beth dropped her backpack and bolted towards her. 

Blood was rushing in hers ears and her heart was pounding.  _This couldn’t be real._ In a similar fashion, Maggie started running towards her, which was when Beth noticed the obvious difference between the Maggie she knew and this one.  _This_ Maggie was larger and rounded, almost as if she were...  _pregnant_. 

Maggie didn’t pause, instantly wrapping her arms around her younger sister. She was sobbing hysterically, pulling away only to place her hands on Beth’s face trying to map all the changes in her, from the obvious scar on her face to her long bedraggled hair. 

“You’re here, you’re actually here. Oh, Bethy! You’re here.”

In between the crying and hugging, Noah and Aaron had made their way over, with Aaron confusedly asking, “You two know each other?”

Maggie laughed brokenly in-between her bouts of sobbing. “Beth-Beth is my  _sister_.”

“Oh my- is that Beth?!“

It was by this point that a crowd had gathered, including members of Rick’s group. Beth, having moved out of Maggie’s hug, looked around and felt her heart soar as she caught sight of more and more familiar faces. 

“BETH!”

“Beth! Holy shi-“

Rick, Glenn, Michonne, Carol. The faces were coming thick and fast, each person moving forward to earnestly wrap her in their own hug. Beth’s face felt like it might split in two with how wide she was smiling. She couldn’t  believe  this was happening. 

Beth’s eyes roamed the group until they landed on the most beautiful sight of all. 

_ Daryl Dixon. _

The hunter was positioned at the edge of the circle around the group. His face was ashen, the expression one of utter relief mixed with pure pain. His crossbow had clattered uselessly to the ground, but he didn’t seem to notice. 

“ _Daryl_.”

She didn’t stop to question herself, instead she immediately broke away from the group and sprinted to the outskirts of the crowd. She leapt up, her arms reaching solidly around the one person she had wished for and dreamed of seeing again. The familiar scent of cigarettes and motor oil overwhelmed her senses. Daryl didn’t reach to hug her back, but she felt him bury his face in her hair and could hear him cry mutely against her.

_ She was home. _

It was after a moment or two that she pulled back. Smiling up at the hunter, she couldn’t help but say, “I told you I wasn’t just another dead girl. I survived.”

Daryl’s face crumpled, his eyes trailing over the scar on her face, “‘M sorry, Beth. ‘M so sorry. I followed the car. I followed it for days, but I just couldn’t-I couldn’t-“

“It’s not your fault, Daryl Dixon. ‘M here now.”

****

It was several minutes later, that Aaron finally made his way through the crowd. The group around Beth were teeming with questions, but Aaron needed to get both Beth and Noah through to Deanna, not that there would be much of a question as to whether she was staying. It was pretty much a given. But it was standard procedure nonetheless. He couldn’t help but notice Beth’s proximity to Daryl, as well as his reaction to her. 

“Sorry to interrupt your family reunion, but we need to get them to Deanna.”

“Them?”

Maggie’s question brought Beth back to reality. 

“Oh, shi-“ 

She span back round to see Noah hovering at the edge of the mass of people, holding both of their backpacks. She manoeuvred her way back through the crowd, her hand never leaving Daryl’s.

“Noah, ‘M sorry. I just got caught up wi-“

“It’s fine-“, Noah was smiling; he couldn’t help but enjoy watching her reunite with her family. At least one of them could find their family. “-I’m glad you’ve found them.”

“Daryl, this is Noah. He and I escaped from Grady - the community I was taken to by the car - we’ve been looking for you all ever since.” She introduced the two of them worriedly, silently hoping for the two to get on. “Noah, this is Daryl. He’s the one who taught me how to hunt. He’s probably the reason that both of us are alive.”

Daryl stared at Noah standoffishly, comparatively Noah was looking at Daryl in awe. He eagerly stuck his hand out towards the hunter, “I’m happy to finally be meeting you.”

“Mhmm.” Daryl didn’t move to take the hand, but acknowledged the man in-font of him with a very slight nod. Turning back to Beth, his face still holding an almost indecipherable expression, he asked. “You talked to Deanna yet?”

“Not yet, Aaron said he’ll take us.”

“‘M gonna come with you, let’s go.”

Aaron led the three of them away from the group of people. Beth could make out Rick and Maggie trailing after them as they walked further down the street, only stopping when they reached a large detached building. 

Entering, Beth was impressed by the ordered and tidy interior; no buildings on the outside were ever this tidy, most having been striped down for anything valuable.

“Deanna typically interviews people on a one-to-one basis. Which of you would like to go first?” Aaron glanced between Beth and Noah. 

“I’ll go.” Noah stepped forward, “It’s fine, you can have some time to catch up with your family.”

Beth glanced back at the doorway where Rick, Maggie and Daryl stood and nodded. 

“Yeah, okay.” But before Noah could go through the doors, Beth reached for his arm. Speaking in quiet tones, hoping the others wouldn’t hear, she said, “But remember, we don’t owe anyone  _anything_. Yeah?”

Looking meaningfully back at Beth, Noah nodded. “I know.”

There was an awkward pause once Noah walked through the doors. Aaron, Daryl, Maggie and Rick all stood uncomfortably around the hallway, uncertain of what to say.

Beth cleared her throat loudly, “So...How far along are you?”

“About seven months. We’re planning on calling him Hershel Rhee.” 

Beth felt tears well up.  _Hershel_ _._ She thought about their Dad a lot. The days at Grady, when the mind games there got too much, she remembered what he’d say:  we’ve all got our jobs to do.

“How do you know it’s a boy?”

“ _Oh_.  You don’t know! Alexandria...it’s not the only community out there. We’ve got trade deals with other communities. There’s The Kingdom, Oceanside and Hilltop. Hilltop just so happens to have some medical equipment and a doctor that knows how to use it.”  
  
”Wow.” She didn’t even know how to comprehend that. Not only was her family alive but they were thriving; they were establishing communities, making trade deals and starting families. It was more than she could have ever dreamed. 

“He’ll give lil’ Asskicker some company.” Daryl’s mouth curved as he spoke. 

Beth felt the air flow from her lungs,  _Judith_. Of all the people, the fact that Judith survived could be counted as a miracle. “ _Judith_. Oh my- She’s alive?! I saw Carol, Michonne and Glenn earlier, did anybody else...?”

“Yeah, Sasha and Carl.” Rick dropped eye contact, ”Tyreese and Bob got out, along with Lizzie and Mika, but they were killed before we made it here.”

“Oh.”

She might not have been close with Bob and Tyreese, but the confirmation that they made it out only to be killed hurt. While she had known Lizzie and Mika better, having spent a lot of time with the Prison children while she had looked after Judith, she had unconsciously assumed that they hadn’t made it out of the prison alive. 

“And you? Daryl said you two travelled together after the prison, but that you lost each other.” Rick’s unspoken question was clear.  _Where had she been the last year?_

The last year, from the time she’d spent at Grady to the people Noah and her had met while on the run, was a time she tried not to think about. Thinking about it reminded her of the anxiety she had felt prior to entering Alexandria, about how much she had changed and whether she would fit in with society anymore. 

“I-“

She could only wonder what her family were thinking about her disappearance and what they thought she’d been doing.  _Would they understand?_

“I-“

Before Beth could even start to articulate the hell that the last year had been, Daryl interrupted. “You don’t gotta tell us anything, Greene. We can mind our own damn business.” He gave Rick a pointed look. 

“No, it’s fine.” She smiled gratefully at Daryl. ” It’s just, a lot has happened...After I was hit by the car, I woke up in the hospital-”

“A  _hospital_?”

Beth carried on, ignoring Maggie’s outburst. ”It was this community in Atlanta, called Grady Memorial. Apparently, when things started some of the local cops secured the place. There were some nurses, the cops, a doctor and the people they were taking in.”

“So they took you in? Helped you?” Maggie interrupted again, this time her voice painfully hopeful. 

“Uh-“, Beth looked awkwardly at the ground. “In a way. They stitched me up and gave me medication and food... But it didn’t come for free. The leader, Dawn, she had this system where, for everything they gave us we had to work for it. They didn’t let anyone leave. Noah had been there a year by the time I got there, he was practically Dawn’s personal slave.”

She glanced back up at Maggie’s crestfallen face and Daryl’s intense stare. “It’s fine, I was only there a couple of months. Noah and I managed to escape and we’ve spent the rest of the time on the move. We thought neither of us had anything left. But I guess, we were wrong.” She reached her hand out to Maggie, half hugging her, reassuring both herself and her sister that she was actually there; that this was real and not a dream. 

“How’d Aaron find you?” This time it was Rick who disturbed the silence. 

“I-I don’t really know. We didn’t really ask.” She looked over at Aaron, questioningly. “It’s a good question though, at what point  did you start watching us?”

“You make it sound a lot worse than it actually was”, Aaron laughed. “I actually heard you both before I saw you; you were teaching Noah how to build a snare. You reminded me a bit of Daryl, it’s why I kept watching.” He glanced slyly over to the bowman before adding, ”Now I guess I know why.”

Beth huffed a laugh, opening her mouth to respond, only for the door to Deanna’s office to swing open. 

Noah stuck his head out shyly. 

“Hey Beth, you’re up.”

Beth smiled over at Rick and Aaron, and with one last squeeze of Maggie’s hand and a reassuring nod from Daryl, she entered. 

****

In the living room, between the stacked book shelves and couches, sat a woman. She was small, with shoulder length brown hair, she wore a blouse and when she turned towards them her face held a welcoming smile. She looked every bit the gracious host. It put Beth on edge; no one could be this perfect. But Rick trusted her.  _Daryl_ trusted her. So with that in mind, Beth closed the door firmly behind her, not looking back.

“Hello, I’m Deanna Monroe.”

“Hi. ‘M Beth. Beth Greene.”

“Do you mind if I tape our talk?”

Deanna’s question caught her off-guard.  _Tape it? _ The fact that they had a working camera alone was a miracle, but the implication that they were using it meant that they must have some way of re-charging the battery which only gave her more questions. 

“Beth?”

She jumped, subtly clenching her hand around her previously broken wrist, using the twinge to ground herself. “Y-Yeah, of course.”

Deanna smiled calmly, gesturing to one of the seats across from the camera. 

“Where’d you get the electricity from?”

Deanna’s smile widened at her unrestrained curiosity. 

“Before we found it, this community had it’s own solar grid and cisterns. It was a planned community, meant to be the start of sustainability. It’s grown since then, we’ve built around it, a school, a small vegetable garden; we’ve widened our walls; we’ve brought in more people. We’ve made it a home.” She paused, looking over at Beth inquisitively, “I guess you wouldn’t have been old enough to leave home when all this started?”

Beth shook her head. 

“What did you want to do, after school?”

She shrugged, “What’s it matter? It’s not like I can do it anymore.”

“As I told Rick when they first arrived, what people do matters. What you do  _matters_.”

 _ “We all got our jobs to do.”  _ Beth spoke softly, unable to help herself. 

Deanna shifted, moving forward in her seat, her hands coming to rest on her legs and her head tilting questioningly. “Who said that?”

“My Dad.”

“He sounds like a smart man.”  
  
She looked at Deanna and smiled. ”He was.” The smile fell, ”He was, before the Governor cut his head off.”

“I’m sorry that happened to him. And I’m sorry you and your sister had to see it. But I believe, and I believe this with all I have left, that who we were before and _everything_ we have experienced since is important and we _should_ remember it.”

“...I wanted to me a vet, like my Dad.” She offered.

“And what do you think you would want to do now? We have space for an extra hand with our doctor, if you’d-?”  


“No.” The word was out before she could stop it. Her mind going back to her time at Grady: the man she’d accidentally killed seizing infront of her, the sound of Joan screaming as she held her down, the feeling of Gorman’s hand ghosting down her side. She backtracked quickly, ”I-I mean, I’d have to think about it.”

“You don’t have to do any job here that you’re uncomfortable with.  _ ‘To thine own self be true.’ _ ” Beth glanced up at Deanna’s compassionate features, beginning to understand why her family might like it here. “It’s Shakespeare, though you may have known that. Itmeans, that I - that  we \- want you to feel at home here. The rest of your family have found something here, I know they would love you to do so too. So don’t worry, we’ll find you something.”

With that, she got up, reaching to turn off the camera. 

“Is that it?” 

“Yes, that’s it. I just wanted to get to know you and record your arrival. Were you expecting more of an interrogation of some sort?”

Beth felt her cheeks heat, embarrassedly. ”I guess I did. Even at the prison we had some standard questions that we asked before taking people in.”  
  
”Oh? And what were they?”

“We would as three questions...” She raised three fingers. “How many walkers you killed?” A finger went down. “How many people you killed?” And another. “And Why?” Beth let her hand fall. 

“Those are quite the questions. If you want to know my answers before you decide to join our community, then they are: zero and two. I haven’t killed any ‘walkers’ as I’m lucky enough to have been behind these walls before things started getting really bad. The people, though, they were two men we brought in that didn’t work out. I ended up exiling them, which I think you and I both know is as good as killing them.”

Deanna didn’t ask her the questions in return, but not needing the prompting, Beth answered them. “I don’t know how many walkers I’ve killed, probably a lot by now. But people... I’ve killed seven people. I honestly don’t know if all of them died but I didn’t stick around to find out.”

“Whatever you did to survive, doesn’t make you a bad person.” Deanna responded shrewdly, ”I’m sure you had good reasons.”

“How can you  say  that? How do you know if I’m a good person? What if I liked killing them? You’re just gonna let me into your community like I didn’t do  _anything_?!”

“I’m exceptionally good at reading people and I don’t think you’re a bad person. I don’t think bad people ask themselves if they  are  bad people. I, also, know the rest of your family too well to think someone they love would be a murderous tyrant.” Not giving Beth the chance to retort, Deanna finally moved to turn off the camera, “Now, would you like to be given the tour now or later?” 

****

Beth re-joined the others, who’d waited outside for her interview to finish, each unwilling to leave her side long. Aaron proceeded to show both her and Noah around the community, introducing them to the the school, the infirmary, the vegetable patches and each of their people’s respective houses.

“That one is where Carl, Michonne and I stay.”  


Beth grinned at Rick, hearing  _something _ in his voice. ”You and Michonne, huh?”

Rick looked to her, mouth curving unwillingly. “Yeah, me and Michonne.”

“And that’s where Glen, Sasha and I stay.” Maggie said, eager to point out her own house, “We can make some room for you there with us, if you want?”

Beth glanced from Maggie over to Daryl, who’d been quiet until now. “Actually, I was hopin’ to stay with Daryl-“ She looked at him hopefully, ”-If that’s alright with you?”

If Rick, Maggie or Aaron were surprised with the request they didn’t show it. Daryl himself didn’t outwardly display any reaction, but from her time with him - though it had been a while - she could sense a nervousness about him. 

“Mhmm. That’s okay with me, Greene.” 

She locked eyes with Daryl and felt herself remember the last time she had seen him properly, before the walkers had interrupted at the funeral home, when he’d suggested they stay there. The final question she’d asked before it had all gone to hell,  _ ‘What changed your mind?’_

_ Oh. _

She couldn’t help but hope that he still felt the same.

Not noticing the shift in mood in Beth, or choosing to ignore it, Aaron interrupted the moment. “He actually lives with me and Eric, there.” He pointed another house further down the street. “And what about you, Noah? Where do you think you want to stay?”

“I would like to stay with Beth, if that’s good? I don’t mind taking a couch or something. God knows it’s better than where we’ve been staying.”  


“I’m sure we can make the room for you. I know Eric will be happy to have guests.”

“Hey, Beth.” Rick waved to grab her attention, gesturing towards the wooden building to their left. “That there is the Church, it’s got a great piano...I know Judith has missed hearing you sing.”

Noah turned to look at Beth, “I didn’t know you could sing.”

Maggie felt her stomach drop slightly hearing that; even in their most dire days, during their winter on the run before the prison, Beth had always managed a quiet song or a soft hum. She’d had a tune to lift everyone’s mood. From what she could gather, Beth had been travelling with Noah for up to a year so the fact that he hadn’t heard Beth sing once in that time saddened her. 

“I don’t really sing anymore, y’ know.” 

Beth didn’t look at any of them as she said it, couldn’t tell them that she hadn’t really felt like singing since they had encountered those men last year. That she felt a pit in her stomach and the ghost of two hands around her throat every time she went to sing. 

“Just know it’s there if you want to, Beth.”  
  
She tried to smile reassuringly back to Rick but it ended up being more of a grimace. “Yeah, okay.”

“How about we take you to Daryl’s and the both of you get showered and washed up?”

A shower . _An actual shower_ _._ She wasn’t going to argue with that. 

****

She hadn’t realised the amount of grime that had built up over the last few months. It was the type of grime that a quick wash in the river couldn’t flush away. It was the mud imbedded in her plaits, the layer of plaque on her teeth, the dirt beneath her nails. 

Looking at the mirror after her shower, she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. 

The scar, for one. Though she’d had it a while now, she hadn’t had a chance to actually  see it properly since they went on the run, so it on her face was off-putting. Her blonde hair, now tied in a loose plait, was longer than it used to be and wispier too. It couldn’t have been healthy, being matted in dirt for so long. 

Her face was thinner than she remembered, too, almost emaciated. While she had kept Noah and herself fed during the last year, they had never been full. They were always slightly hungry and on edge. It only made sense that it would be reflected in her figure. 

She wondered what her family thought when they saw her, if they thought she looked as wild as she felt.

She walked out of the bathroom feeling clean for the first time since Grady, the borrowed clothes she was wearing feeling soft against her skin.

By the time she wandered out into the living room, only Daryl remained at the dining table, though she could hear the soft footsteps of Aaron from the kitchen. 

“Where’d Noah go?”

“You were taking a while in the shower so Maggie offered hers to him in the meantime.”

“I just couldn’t stop washing my hair.” Beth laughed. 

“Mhmm.”

Beth glanced around, making they were truly alone for this first time since the funeral home, before she moved to sit next to Daryl. “It’s okay here, right? The people, they’re  _okay_?”

Daryl’s stare was a comfortable one, just being under it again made her muscles relax involuntarily. “Yeah. They’re good people.” 

They sat there silently, with anyone else it would have been called awkward, but with Daryl it was companionable. In almost a mirror of their last conversation, Beth softly asked. “...So you  _do _think there’s still good people around?”

Daryl didn’t respond, instead looking down at his hands clenched on the table. 

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“You know.”

She thought she knew what he meant.  Maybe he didn’t to revisit the conversation they’d had. Or maybe he didn’t want too face any feelings that’d been felt at the funeral home. Maybe he was scared. But she was through being scared; she spent the last year or so being scared and what scared hermore than everything she had faced was the idea of never letting Daryl know what he meant to her. Never letting him know that she felt the same. 

So letting the breath she’d been holding in out, she slowly, not taking her eyes off Daryl, reached across the table for his hand. “Don’t what, Daryl?”

Daryl went rigid, the moment her hand touched his. “You don’t have to-“

“I know I don’t have to. I  _want_ to.”

“You only think that ‘cos you were stuck with me-“

“I’ve not been _‘_ _ stuck’ _ -”, Her voice verbally adding sarcastic quotation marks around the word, letting him know what she thought of it,”-with you for nearly a year. I know what I want but if you don’t want the same-“, she let her hand drop from his, “That’s fine. I just don’t want to live life with regrets anymore.”

Her voiced had lowered as she spoke, ending at no more than a whisper. It was taking her a lot to say it but she’d spent the last year agonising over not responding to Daryl’s unspoken confession. She didn’t want to do that again. Not when she was given the miracle of reuniting with Daryl. 

She’d dropped eye contact when she let go of Daryl’s hand, so she was surprised when she felt a hand tentatively re-take hers.  _God_ , she must have been starved of contact, because her hand tingled as he held hers. She felt like her whole body was on fire. She couldn’t tell whether it was embarrassment or something more. 

“What will people of me if you do-do  _this_ ”, he gestured to their hands, ”after you were with me,  _alone_ , for all that time?“

“It doesn’t matter what they think. You  ain’t like that. You are a good person, Daryl Dixon. And I know what I want.”

“Oh.” 

“Yeah,  _oh_ _._ ”

Before she could rethink it, she slowly moved her hands up to his cheeks and leaned in. Her mouth pressing softly to his. 

And after a moments pause, he kissed tentatively back. 

It felt like the heaven, his mouth moving against hers. His hands moved to gently cup the back of her head. She felt shivers run down her spine, as they kissed, the sensations overwhelming her.

Eventually, they pulled away, both breathing heavily. 

“I was wrong before, Mr Dixon. I don’t think you will be the last man standing.”

****

The morning light shone through the blinds.

Beth blinked, disorientated. 

She was in a bed. A real bed. 

_ It wasn’t a dream. _

She lurched up suddenly, looking around for Daryl but found the room empty . 

They had agreed to share a bed the night before, like they had done when they’d travelled together and managed to find shelter for the night. While they’d kissed once or twice more, it had been an unspoken mutual agreement to take  _whatever_ they were one day at a time. Both too hesitant to ruin what had happened between them.

But now the room was empty, Beth felt nerves creep in. What if he regrets kissing her? What if they don’t work out and it ruins whatever comfort and friendship they have? And what if he realises how messed up she is from Gorman and  _those men_ and he can’t handle it?

She wouldn’t blame him, but she also knew if that happened she might never recover from it. 

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a tentative knock on the door, with Daryl’s head poking round the corner.

“I brought breakfast.” 

He came into the room, one hand carrying a tray with some tea and toast. It had to be one of the top ten most surreal moments of her life.

“Wow, you made me breakfast?” She tried not to sound as incredulous as she felt. 

“No, Aaron made it, but I brought it up.”

She could see the telltale signs of embarrassment from Daryl, so accepted the tray gratefully, not wanting his discomfort to linger. “Thanks.”

Daryl sat on a chair by the door, not looking at her, instead looking at the knife and sheath in his hands.

A silence fell, but it was a comfortable one. The type of silence she had been longing for since Grady, it was the silence of home. She smiled to herself, unable to help it; the feeling of happiness welling up.  _How long had it been since she had felt so happy?_

“I wanted to thank you, Daryl.”

“What for?” Daryl carried on staring at the knife, refusing to look up. “For losin’ you? For letting people just come and take you?”

Beth felt her happiness deflate instantly, anger instead rising within her. “What are you talking about?! That’s  _bullshit_. You didn’t  _lose _ me. Some self entitled cops who thought they could  own  people, took me. It wasn’t your fault, it just happened!”  


“Yeah, ‘cos I let it! You were my responsibility. I told you I’d keep you safe. And I let some  _bastards_ off the street take you, without even being able find you. And-and you were  _gone_ -“

She leapt up, letting the tray be pushed to the side of the bed, and hugged him. Like the day before, Daryl didn’t hug her back but she felt him lean against her. 

“It wasn’t your fault.” She pulled away and looked up at him seriously, “You need to let the past go, otherwise it’ll eat you up. I’m here. It’s over. We’re home.”

She hoped this would be the last time she’d have to tell him that, but she knew it most likely wouldn’t be. He, like her, was struggling to come to terms with the fact that they had found each other again. He’d probably been feeling guilty ever since she was taken. And she knew from experience, how feelings like that could fester inside and mutate into darker thoughts. So, maybe it wouldn’t be the last time she’d tell him that; if he needed that reassurance, then she’d give it to him. 

****

It had been a couple of days since Noah and Beth had arrived in Alexandria. And Beth couldn’t help but feel weird about it. She was still getting used to the access to hot showers and clean clothes; and the regular meals and constant company. In contrast, Noah seemed to thrive in the community, in only a couple of days he had become fast friends with Tara, seeming to click instantly. While he still made time for Beth, each being sure to check in with the other to make sure they were okay in this new community, Noah started to make himself at home while Beth felt on edge.

She’d confessed her feelings to Daryl in the darkness of night, not wanting to see his face when she spoke of her restlessness. It had been a comfort to her when he’d responded in kind, telling her of his inability to settle and how  _ridiculous_ Carol’s blouse was. She’d had to agree that it was odd to see Carol in such clothes after only knowing her as a survivalist at the prison. It made sense to her now why Daryl had chosen to become a recruiter, though she’d questioned it before. He needed the freedom that the outside gave, he craved it. She could empathise with that need, understood it. 

He’d offered for her join him, but as much as she wanted that freedom, she was reluctant to go back out of the walls. The memories of the people she’d met before holding her back. Daryl hadn’t questioned it but she knew he wondered why, maybe he had made his own assumptions, but she wasn’t ready to confirm them or not. Not yet.

So she’d said no. 

To comprise she’d asked to continue her training with him, for him to teach her how to hunt again, under the assumption that they wouldn’t start too far from Alexandria.

Beth knew that her family had been through some things since the Prison too. That they had changed. She could tell by the new friends they’d made, the way they’d stare off into the distance or the new scars they had - she’d nearly had a heart attack the first day when she’d seen Carl’s eyepatch. 

She’d spent her second evening in Alexandria with Maggie and Glenn, hearing aborted stories of their travels, ones that started with: ‘And we thought Eugene would save the world with a cure’ or ‘Kid lost his eye when a kid shot him’ or even ‘Those cannibals were crazy bastards’.

She understood it. 

She did the same with stories of Grady, she trailed off saying things like: ‘Before we cut Joan’s leg off’ or ‘When he fell down the elevator shaft’. 

So she understood her family. And even her newly acquired family, like Rosa, Tara and Abraham.

What she couldn’t understand were the Alexandrians themselves. It’s what caused her unease. She liked Aaron and Eric, their easy going nature endearing them to her immediately, and Deanna she could respect for her authority and poise. But the rest, those who hadn’t left the confines of Alexandria, she didn’t get. They seemed nice enough, if a little naive, but she didn’t feel the same camaraderie she did with the others. 

It was that naivety that reminded her of the self-righteousness of Grady, which caused her paranoia to flare at the most inopportune moments. 

It was one of these moments, that got her a glimpse into her families’ experience before Alexandria. 

She had been walking down the streets of Alexandria. 

Beth found her eyes lingering on the pews of the church, thinking of the piano that Rick had mentioned on her first day. Maybe it was time to try some singing again, time to let her mind move on from the feel of hands on her neck. 

Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm. 

She felt her mind freeze. 

She whirled around, not registering the teenage boy in front of her - an Alexandrian she had yet to meet - nor Carl standing by his side, instead all she could see were the men who had attacked her all those months ago. 

She reacted. 

She wielded her knife, her breath coming out in short bursts. 

“-et help. Beth, it’s just me. It’s Carl. Your family.”

Hands wrapped around the fist holding the knife, but she didn’t struggle. Her mind instinctually recognising the voice as friendly. 

When she finally found herself lucid again, she was sitting in the relative peace of a makeshift graveyard with Carl sitting by her side, a concerned look on his face.

She gulped at the air, giving into the need to breath, listening to Carl’s voice. “In. And out. In and out.”

The embarrassment at what had just happened finally hit her. 

“Carl, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

“It’s fine. You might have given Josh a bit of a fright but it’s fine. We all get them.”

She glanced over at the boy, no  _the man_ , sitting next to her. He wasn’t looking at her anymore, instead staring with his one decent eye at the graves in front of them. She hadn’t had the opportunity to spend time one on one with Carl like they used to. Before, at the prison, they’d been good friends; each having been too young when the outbreak started, and having clung to the only people that had understood what it might be like to grow up in a post-apocalyptic world. 

He was different now. 

He seemed more sure of himself in a way, but less sure in others. His eyes were harder. As were his facial expressions. And yet he still had Rick’s sheriffs had on his head, a testament to how some things never change.

“‘M still sorry. I didn’t mean to have a breakdown in front of everyone. Like I’m  _weak_ or somethin’.”

“You’re not weak.” 

Carl’s voice came out sharply, not allowing for disagreement. “When my Dad first got here, he had trouble adjusting too. He had a breakdown in front of the whole of Alexandria. Took being knocked out to calm him down. Is  _he_ weak?”

Carl raised an accusatory eyebrow.

“N-No. He ain’t.”

“Neither are you.”

“Bet he didn’t have a breakdown over  _nothin’_ though. Bet you wouldn’t ha-“

“-I do. Sometimes.” Carl interrupted whatever she’d been about to say. She looked at him, though he didn’t look back; his eye patch was facing the side she sat on and she couldn’t see his other eye from where they sat side-by-side. 

“You wanna talk about it?”

It had been quiet for so long since her question, she almost thought he hadn’t heard it. 

“When we were still on the outside, before Alexandria, Dad and I found Michonne. Well I guess she found us, knocked right on our door. We hadn’t found everyone else yet and it was just the three of us. We were travelling in the forest, sleeping in an abandoned car, when these men found us. Called themselves  _the Claimers_.”

Beth felt a chill down her spine at his tone, she hoped this wasn’t going to go where she thought it was. 

“They’d been tracking us, ‘cause Dad had killed one of their men who we ran into in town. They threatened us, Daryl tried to stop them - he was travelling with them after you were taken - but they wouldn’t stop. They said they would rape Michonne and-and me-“, Carl’s voice shook as he spoke, but he carried on. “And then they would kill Dad.”

She closed her eyes, her mind unwittingly picturing the events. How helpless Carl would have felt and how scared he must have been.

“I’m really sorry that happened.”

“I know I’m okay, and nothing actually happened. Dad ripped Joe’s throat out and killed the other guy before he could-“ While he voice trailed off but Beth knew what he meant. “But sometimes things can remind me of it and I need to remind myself how to breathe. So I get it.”

She felt her heart go out for Carl and what he must be going through, but she also felt perversely glad at what he’d told her; at least she had someone who she might be able to talk to about what happened. Though Beth knew her sister had been through something similar with the Governor, she couldn’t bring herself to talk to her about it. Not knowing how she could tell her sister about her attack. 

Not looking at Carl, Beth spoke, her heart pounding in her chest as she did. “When I was in Grady, there was this officer. His name was  _Gorman_.” She spat his name with as much vitriol as she could muster. 

“He’d been raping this girl, Joan before I came along. She had tried to escape and got bit, I had to hold her down while we cut her leg off. He must have decided that I was a better target ‘cos he kept trying to-to-“, she couldn’t find the words to properly describe Gorman’s harassment. And that  _stupid_ lollipop.

“You don’t have to tell me-“

“I want to.” The words came out before she was conscious of it, but the moment she said it she realised how true it was. How much the events of Grady and after had been eating at her. She tried to break the tension, aiming for levity, she said. “Anyway, this is the closest we’re ever gonna get to therapy, right?”

She could feel Carl snort lightly beside her and took heart in it. 

“Every time, I managed to avoid him but he caught me, the last night I was there. I was looking for keys from Dawn’s office. Joan, she had committed suicide in there not long before. She must have wanted to kill Dawn, even from beyond the grave. He saw me in there and tried to rape me, so I smashed those stupid,  _fucking _ lollipops on his head and Joan got him.”

“Good.” 

Beth paused, unsure whether she wanted to go further. But Carl had told her his story, he’d been  _brave_. Maybe she could do the same. All of it. 

“He wasn’t the only one. There were others.” She drew her legs up against her chest as she told Carl of the men Noah and her had run into last Winter. She told him of how the man had told her to strip and  _groped _ her and how she’d killed every single one of them.

As if to mirror Beth from earlier in the conversation, Carl said quietly. “I’m really sorry that happened.”

Beth shrugged. “Yeah. So am I.”

“You ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

“You too.”

She reached down between them and grasped Carl’s hand, finding comfort in the man with similar experiences to her own.

And for the first time since she’d joined Alexandria she felt a weight lift from her. She didn’t have to suffer alone. She had family to help her and family that she, too, could help.

****

Feeling lighter from her talk with Carl, Beth finally got the courage to approach Deanna about what she wanted to do in the community. While she’d been initially surprised, she had been very encouraging, and they’d gone to great lengths to discuss how best to help her achieve her goal.

She was gonna help the infirmary. She was gonna be as close to a vet as she possibly could be post-apocalypse. And she felt happy about her decision.  _Fuck Grady_.

“This is Denise. Denise, this is Beth.” 

Beth smiled at the girl in front of her. 

From a superficial glance, she made the assumption that Denise was one of the lucky one who’d been behind the walls when all this had started. The girl looked as timid as one could get, as though afraid of her own shadow. 

“Hi Denise, it’s nice to meet you.” 

Beth held her hand out for Denise to shake, with the girl clumsily reaching forward to take it. 

“So, were you a Doctor when all this started?”

“I was a medical student.”  
  
”Oh.” There was a slight pause, before Beth recovered. “Well, that’s still better than me; my Dad was a veterinarian and I helped out occasionally.”

Denise smiled appreciatively, while nervously looking between Deanna and Beth. 

“I’m hoping to help you out round here, if I can that is.”  
  
”O-Of course you can! I’d appreciate the help.”

“Well, this is all good news.” Deanna smiled, almost proudly at the two of them. “Beth, here, was thinking of going to Hilltop for a couple of weeks before then to learn what she can off of the Doctor there.”

A quick look of relief crossed Denise’s face, though she tried to hide it. 

“Well then Beth, welcome to the team.”

****

“What are you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I’d like to help people here.” She replied calmly. She tried not to take offence at Maggie’s horrified question; she’d been told my Glenn that Maggie had been more hormonal of late, due to the pregnancy. “That I want more than to be Judith’s babysitter here. That  _maybe_ , just maybe, I can make a difference.”

“And  _how_ will you get to Hilltop?”  
  
”’M gonna take her.” 

Daryl’s statement was firm. The moment she’d told him what she wanted to do, he’d agreed. She’d asked him why he was so willing to help her, only for him to respond: ‘It’s not like I can stop you, is it? I still remember those damn Peach Schnapps.’  She had smirked, remembering just how stubborn she’d been to get that drink. ‘I guess not.’

“You gonna be able to look after her this time?”

Daryl flinched,  _hard_. 

“ _ Maggie! _ ” Only the fact that she was seven months pregnant stopped Beth from jumping over the table and slapping her sister round the face. As if sensing the anger, Glenn had moved between the two sisters instinctually. 

Maggie’s face froze as she realised what she’d just said. Regretfully, she moved towards Daryl, “I’m sorry, it’s the hormones. I-I didn’t mean-“ 

But Daryl was already out of the door, ignoring the shouts of their family around them. 

“Maggie.” She looked disdainfully at her sister, before turning and following behind Daryl. 

“Daryl! Daryl, wait-!”  
  
”What?! What do you want, girl? Hm?” Daryl span round, getting into her face angrily. “What do you want from me?”

She could make out Noah a few houses down spot the heated exchange, but she held up her hand behind Daryl to stop him from approaching. She didn’t need help, she needed Daryl to understand that she trusted him, more than anyone in the world.

“It wasn’t true, what Maggie said. It was wrong and you know it.”

“Wrong or not, you can find someone else to take you ‘cos I’m done.”

“I  _told_ you that that night wasn’t your fault!” When Daryl scoffed angrily, she continued. “You think one wrong move  _months_ ago means you can just drop me and pretend you don’t  _care_?!” She was yelling right back in his face, reminiscent of their fight outside the moonshine barn. That night, for all the arguing, was one of her favourite days since the Prison; it was the first time she felt like someone had treated her like something other than a child, more like an equal. “I may just be some ‘dumb college bitch’, but at least I ain’t storming off looking for attention!”

“You think I’m doing this for attention?!”

“Well you sure ain’t doing it for me! I don’t know if you noticed here, but I ain’t the  _‘trusting’ _type anymore. And I’d much rather have you by my side making a mistake than anyone else here!” 

They were still up in each other’s face, but she could tell the moment he started to calm down and listen.

“I-I just-“

“I know, Daryl. But I trust you. And I’d like to think you trust me too. So  please , trust me on this, Mr Dixon.”

He brokenly huffed a laugh at her attempt at humour. 

Noticing the crowd they’d managed to gather - though all of them probably believed they were watching surreptitiously, she could feel their gazes heavy on her back.

“C’mon, let’s go back home. We can talk there.”

****

Despite Maggie’s reticence and later Daryl’s hesitance, Beth had gone to Hilltop to learn under the Doctor there a month later. Daryl had accompanied her, using the time between Alexandria and Hilltop to continue his tutelage in hunting. 

She was happy to have made the decision. 

Doctor Harlan Carson, Hilltop’s physician, was nothing like Doctor Edwards had been; he was someone who had genuinely enjoyed medicine and was happy to spread his knowledge to anyone willing to learn. While his speciality was pregnancy, as he had trained as an obstetrician, he had the basic knowledge of a wide range of medical fields. Some of his skills had been picked up recently, like how to tend to bullet wounds, but others were ingrained. 

They didn’t stay long, only planning a couple of weeks, as she didn’t want to miss too much of Hershel Rhee’s early days. But she planned to return later on in the year for further lessons. 

_ Hershel Rhee. _

Beth remembered telling Daryl how she’d thought they would have birthdays and holidays and summer picnics at the prison. And how she thought they might grow old there. She remembered thinking how  _stupid _ she was for believing that. 

But now, unintentionally, she felt like she could believe that again. And the birth of Hershel Rhee was the first step in that. Hershel Rhee,  _her nephew_.

It was on the journey back from Hilltop, when Beth and Daryl stopped by a derelict grocery store to look for supplied, that really cemented that idea for her. 

“Greene.” 

Daryl called out from a couple of aisles over. 

“Yeah?”

She poked her head round the corner, her arms full of baby food and tinned peas.

“I got somethin’ for ya.”

She smiled coyly, her heart warming. “What is it?”

“Close your eyes.”

She rolled her eyes exasperated, setting the tinned food down on the shelf beside her, but she complied. She put her hands out in front of her, eyes closed.

She felt Daryl drop something in her hands. 

It was hard and square shaped. 

She opened her eyes. 

In her hands she held an unused silver leather-bound diary. It was similar to the one she used to have at the prison and the farm, before the days of the ASZ. She would keep a record of what happened and people she met. It used to be a sign of hope and stability, especially at the prison, that maybe in the future someone might read it and remember what happened. A diary, to Beth, meant hope for the future. The significance of the token wasn’t lost on her, nor Daryl, who stood looking at her quietly. 

“What changed your mind?”

The question was reminiscent of the one she asked the night she’d been taken, except this time Daryl answered. 

“You did.”


End file.
